This Man’s FIR Led To Arrest Of The Five Activists In Bhima Koregaon Case

The nationwide raids by the Pune police which led to arrests of five activists were the result of an FIR filed by a Pune-based small-time businessman Tushar Damgude on January 8 following the Bhima Koregaon riots. Damgude who suddenly finds himself in the eye of the storm, said, “(I) did not realise things would go this far when I filed my complaint,” as reported by Scroll.

In his complaint, Damgude alleged that the violence that ensued at the Dalit commemoration at Bhima Koregaon on January 1 was in fact due to instigation from the leftist activists who had, the previous day, given speeches at the Elgar Parishad. In an interview with India Today, he said that he found the speeches, pamphlets and literature “highly objectionable”. He also added that the in the past, the Dalit commemoration had never seen violence of any sort.

The complaint

As per the FIR filed by Damgude, at the meeting of the “Elgar Parishad” which took place a day before the Bhima Koregaon incident, members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) alleged called for a revolution and asked for the absolute decimation of the ‘neo-Peshwai’ regime forever, as reported by Newsclick. Further adding that the said members also distributed pamphlets, delivered speeches to incite and facilitate “the commission of terrorist act and unlawful activities by use of violence or by other unlawful means and to take part, commit or advocate, abet or incite the commission of unlawful activities being the member of banned organisation CPI (Maoist)”.

Series of raids following complaint

Following Damgude’s complaint, in April, the Pune police raided houses of seven activists. Post that five people were arrested in Maharashtra and Delhi on June 6. The people arrested were Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut and Surendra Gadling for their alleged connection with the violence at Bhima Koregaon in January.

They were booked under 153(A), 505(1)(B), 117 and 120(B) read with section 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 13, 16, 17, 18, 18(B), 20, 38, 39 and 40 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

As reported by Live Mint, the police officials carrying out the investigation, in this case, said that they found about 200-250 email exchanges between those arrested. They further said that these emails spoke of “preparations for the Elgar Parishad, logistical support, and the kind of speeches to be made”. They also said that these activists were conspiring to overthrow the democratic government of India.

After this raid, again this month, the police raided and arrested five more activists, namely, Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha and Arun Ferreira. They were then, on Supreme Court’s orders put on house arrest. As reported by Firstpost, after the arrests, Shivaji Bodakhe, Joint Commissioner of Pune police said, “Maoists work in urban areas through frontal organisations, and in rural areas through militant organisations. The activists we have arrested were helping the frontal organisations logistically and financially.”

“I have Khule Vichar (open mind)”

Damgude calls Hindutva leader Sambhaji Bhide, who is also accused of inciting violence at the Bhima Koregaon incident, “Guruji”. Speaking of whom, Damgude said, “I had not met Guruji before April this year, and I went to meet him only because I read in the media that he had made a speech endorsing Manusmriti. So when I met him, I told him it is more important to talk about other issues facing the country right now, like the plight of widows and farmers. And he agreed with me.”

Also, Damgude claims that he has no affiliation with a particular party and says that he has an open mind and that he is neutral in his views and has friends across political parties. Speaking of Hindutva he maintains that although he believes in Hindutva, he doesn’t approve of the extremist forces, “Hindutva is being hijacked by some forces that are not truly Hindutva – like the Sanatan Sanstha,” he says.

“Dissent Is Safety Valve Of Democracy,” Says SC On Arrest Of Activists

Partner Story

Life Doesn’t Come With A Manual But It Comes With A Mother

It is often said that “Life doesn’t come with a manual, but it comes with a mother,” and we couldn’t agree more. Motherhood is a beautiful journey to embark upon, but not an easy one to tread as there are challenges and hurdles to deal with, along the way. For centuries there has been an unspoken social norm of mothers having to be responsible for all their child does – everything from nurturing to making sure that the baby grows up to be socially responsible and successful.

With its latest campaign, All Out® takes a powerful stand for mothers who are strong enough to acknowledge that they don’t know everything and are helping other Indian moms become more aware and vigilant against the threat of dengue. With the premise that one mother’s acceptance has the power to fire up other moms to be more vigilant, the campaign says that it takes a special kind of strength to admit #IDidntKnow / #MujheSabNahiPata.

In the campaign film, we see Kirti, who like many moms is strong and conditioned to believe that “Mothers know everything”. Alas, social conditioning notwithstanding, she did not expect a mosquito could change all her beliefs. Unaware of the fact that mosquito which causes dengue can breed even in clean water, Kirti is seen breaking down while accepting #MujheSabNahiPata / #IDidntKnow when her son’s life is endangered by the deadly disease. The film also sees, celebrity mother Sonali Bendre encouraging mothers to push aside the pressures of having to know it all and share their experiences to help prepare other mothers.

In a country that believes a mother should know it all, it takes a tough mom to say #MujheSabNahiPata.All Out aims to empower mothers to come together to share anecdotes from their lives about things they did not know. Because one mother’s defeat can prepare a thousand to be more vigilant. Share your stories with us. #IDidntKnow #MujheSabNahiPata

Through the campaign, the brand is urging mothers across the country to share their #IDidntKnow / #MujheSabNahiPata stories and help other vigilant parents become more aware of the wellbeing and protection of their children.

Please share your story using #IDidntKnow / #MujheSabNahiPata, if you think that your story can encourage and better prepare other mothers to take care of their children.